About Us General Accounting Standards Board 34

The General Accounting Standards Board Statement 34 (GASB 34) is a financial accounting standard published in 1999 that must be followed by state and local governments.  One of the main objectives of this standard is to provide a reporting framework for the government’s annual financial report.

GASB 34 requires that all major infrastructure assets acquired or improved in fiscal years after June 15, 1980, be capitalized.  Government agencies have the option of following one of two different approaches to track assets.  One approach, the “modified approach”, requires an agency to inventory and assess the condition of infrastructure assets and compare it to a minimum level of acceptable condition.  The infrastructure costs required to preserve this condition are then shown as an expense in the annual financial report.  The other approach, often referred to as the traditional method, shows the annual costs of individual assets by showing costs related to (a) operating maintenance and repairs, and (b) depreciated asset value.  For GASB 34 reporting, the Montgomery County Engineer’s office implements the “modified approach”.

The Montgomery County Engineer’s Office establishes both (a) GASB 34 required infrastructure condition targets and (b) separate management targets.  During 2023, the target policies and GASB 34 condition and management targets were the same and are as follows:

A condition assessment that summarizes County maintained road and bridge conditions is included as part of the Montgomery County’s Annual Financial Reports.  These reports are available for download at https://www.mcohio.org/605/Annual-Financial-Reports.

Starting in 2024, the Engineer’s Office will establish GASB 34 condition targets that differ from management targets.  Differing condition and management targets allows an agency to establish acceptable minimum condition levels that allow the continued use of the GASB “modified” approach when more ambitious management targets are not satisfied.  Infrastructure condition and management targets will be as follows:

The Engineer’s Office will continue to strive and satisfy the stated management targets.  For any questions related to the aforementioned items, please do not hesitate to contact the Engineer’s Office at (937) 225-4904.